“Your preparedness plans — having ready supplies and a plan for where to go — are important for every disaster, including tornadoes,” says Josh Klapow, Ph.D., UAB clinical psychologist and certified disaster mental health specialist.

“One of the most difficult things about disaster preparedness is that natural disasters do not occur frequently enough or affect enough people to motivate everyone to have a plan in place,” Klapow says. But memories of the 550 tornado-related fatalities that occurred in the United States in 2011 — the fourth deadliest tornado year in recorded history — are still fresh.

“It very often takes tragedy to knock us into reality. We always need to heed the messages and warnings from public officials and the media,” Klapow says. “We never know when that warning will be coupled with the real thing, so be ready.”

“The most important item to have is a weather radio or an application on your smart phone that can alert you. If you are unaware of the impending weather, you don’t know to go to your safe place,” Nafziger says. Outdoor warning sirens, she says, are not designed to awaken you.

Also, grab a helmet for each member of your family on the way to your safe place.

“Whether it is a hard hat, a football, motorcycle or bicycle helmet, grab it and put it on your head,” Fine says in safety recommendations posted at www.uab.edu/icrc after they discovered half the April 2011 fatalities in Jefferson County, Ala., involved a head injury.

“People can be airborne. Stuff flying around can strike the head. You need something that can absorb that energy, and we believe a helmet can make the difference between life and death,” Fine says.

A helmet won’t guarantee your survival, but it absolutely can reduce injuries and save lives.

Items you should include in a disaster-preparedness kit:

weather radio or weather app

helmets

non-perishable foods

bottled water

required medications

sturdy shoes

masks to protect lungs from floating debris

work gloves to protect hands in case of clean-up needs

plastic tote bins to store these items in

And if a storm doesn’t strike your area when it is forecast, consider yourself lucky and watch for storms that might be close behind, Klapow says.